August means it’s time once again for the Epic Races Swim to the Moon. This series of swim-only races is distinctive enough that athletes from all over the U.S., and many other countries, come to Halfmoon Lake beach to swim their lil’ hearts out. And of course HPR was there to make it Zero Waste. How could a special event like this NOT be?
Want a cool event towel like this one? All ya gotta do is swim 10K or more.
2024 was the 15th anniversary of this event, and to celebrate, Epic decided to make it a two-day event, the highlight of day two being a 15K swim. (That’s 9.3 miles for the metrically challenged.) And those who combined that with Saturday’s 10K ended up swimming over fifteen miles that weekend. As the announcer put it, “That’s a LOOONG time in the water.”
And such friendly spectators!
The event benefits North Star Reach, a summer camp for kids with special medical needs, allowing them to have a full camp experience. The Swim to the Moon race has raised over $100,000 for them over its fifteen years. Way to go! Check them out at https://www.northstarreach.org/ and please consider donating.
Our standard setup worked well both days, with Ground Zero near the food tent and a satellite table near the drop bag area. I didn’t move the park’s trash cans next to the parking lot, choosing instead to clear them of race waste a couple of times. The kitchen staff sorted out the messy mac & cheese bags from their other waste, and brought us their cardboard. Very nice of them considering they were busy serving up hot food to the swimmers all day, both days.
For whatever reason Swim to the Moon always seems to have the Green Team constantly busy, so I recruited a team of five for Saturday, only to find it not quite so busy as expected. Our Sunday team of three was just right.
From left: Liz, Debbie, and Sara at work on Saturday. (We released our volunteer to help cook.)
Sunday: Liz and volunteer Steve hold down the fort. Steve told me he really enjoyed working with us. I said we’ve got lots more events this year!
And as it turns out, our waste total of 257 lbs. was only 40 pounds more than last year’s single day, despite having 300 total more swimmers (1,000 vs. 700). Nothing’s predictable in the Zero Waste business!
Except surprises, I suppose. After takedown on Sunday, I was collecting some final race waste out of a trash can by the parking lot when I heard my name. (Oh, boy.) Yep – the folks working the drop bag area had a whole bunch of bags the athletes had not come back for. I ended up with about a dozen permanent water bottles, some snack bars, and a bunch of Gu that all went into our Free Stuff box, plus some additional compostables and recycling. Considering what’s happened at this event in other years, I’m not complaining.
But most importantly, the swimmers had a great time, and we got lots of thanks for making the event sustainable. Athletes do care, and do notice. Now if more of them can start asking other race directors, “Hey, why aren’t you doing what Epic does?” we just might make it mainstream. Here’s hoping!
Happy Planet Running 